Parents
by VikkiHeat
Summary: Adelle DeWitt learns something about one of her Actives that could bring the entire Dollhouse crumbling down around her, but she has an unlikely ally in Topher Brink. Alpha/Whiskey.
1. Part 1: Prologue

**Parents**

Summary: Adelle DeWitt learns something about one of her Actives that could bring the entire Dollhouse crumbling down around her, but she has an unlikely ally in Topher Brink. Alpha/Whiskey.

_I originally wrote this idea as a short drabble for **I Prefer Magneto's** birthday last year but the idea has been bugging me again lately, so I thought I'd make it a proper ficlet instead for her birthday this year! Hope you're having a great time! More will be posted soon!_

Reviews are loved!

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><p><span>Part 1: Prologue.<span>

The original Doctor Saunders stood to one side of his office, his hands nervously twitching at his sides as he tried to explain this to Adelle DeWitt as calmly as possible. No matter how he broke the news to her, he knew there was no way in heaven or hell that she would take it well, no one in her position would. If he made it through the day without losing his job it would be something of a miracle. As he had expected, Adelle looked as though smoke might erupt from her ears at any moment and her hands were bunched into fists in her chestnut coloured mane of hair.

"You're sure?" She asked, though if anyone had the nerve to be joking about something this serious at the Dollhouse, they would be consigned to the Attic so quickly that their heads would spin. Saunders nodded, just the slightest movement of his balding head. "You're telling me that one of my Actives is pregnant? My _best_ Active is pregnant?"

It was clearly rhetorical but Saunders nodded again anyway. "It explains why Whiskey went AWOL on her last assignment."

"Well yes, it does rather tie up those loose ends." Adelle replied tartly. "But it is your responsibility to make sure that all female Actives are on the birth control pill." Laying the blame on Dr Saunders wouldn't help anyone in the long run, but it made feel just the tiniest bit better to have someone to lay into. It stopped her from blaming herself and wondering if she could have prevented Whiskey's condition if she had kept a better eye on the Dolls.

Saunders looked a little sheepish, discussing contraceptives with a beautiful woman like Adelle DeWitt brought colour to his cheeks, but perhaps he was just old-fashioned. "Yes, yes, of course. But these things are never one hundred percent accurate."

"Evidently not."

Adelle turned on her high heels and was about to stalk over to where Whiskey lay on an examination table, blissfully unaware of fractious argument taking place around her and to the condition she was in. Saunders caught Adelle by the arm, quickly dropping it when she turned back and glared down at him.

"Ms Dewitt," He began awkwardly, coming to what was perhaps the most awkward part of a very uncomfortable conversation. "We know who fathered the child."

"Probably more than we can say of Whiskey, don't you think?" Adelle shot back, her voice and glare as sharp as daggers.

Saunders sighed. "It was Alpha. Whiskey is pregnant with Alpha's baby."

The blow came just as Adelle felt she had taken more than she could bear. How the sun dappled hell was she going to explain this to the Rossum Corporation. She was sure they had been looking for any opportunity to get rid of her and now here one was. Her head was beginning to pound and she longed for a large glass of vodka.

"You're sure?" She asked, yet again.

"His DNA is already in the system, it's a match."

"Oh dear God." Adelle rubbed at her temples, trying to think of a practical solution to this mess. Many things had gone wrong since the Dollhouse had been operational but nothing of this magnitude had happened before. She took a breath, held it and finally exhaled. "Here's what we'll do," She said, feeling a little calmer. "For now we'll carry on as normal, finish off here with Whiskey and send her back downstairs. Give me some time to think about this." She was on her way out of the doctor's office when she turned back once more. "If you breathe a word of this to anyone, I will make sure the consequences cause you extreme pain. What I'll do to you will make the Attic look like a picnic."

Saunders gulped, he didn't doubt that her threats were real, not even for a second.


	2. Part 2: Telling Topher

**Parents  
><strong>**Part 2: Telling Topher**

None the wiser to what had happened, thinking she had just been to a routine check up with the doctor, Whiskey walked down the stairs and joined her fellow Actives. She smiled and exchanged 'good days' with Juliet and Yankee before she spotted Alpha. He wore a smile of his own when he saw her and both of them looked shyly at each other, like two teenagers on their very first date.

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><p>Adelle had returned to her office and had kicked off her high heeled shoes. On the way to her desk, she picked up the decanter of vodka and a heavy crystal tumbler. She poured herself a generous measure and sipped gratefully at the liquor. She felt the warmth of alcohol work through her but she was still completely stumped regarding Whiskey's pregnancy. There was nothing in the agreement that mentioned pregnancy and what the Actual would want if they did become pregnant.<p>

"Bloody birth control!" Adelle cursed, smacking the empty tumbler down on the mahogany surface of her desk.

She had no idea that she was no longer alone until she heard a quiet cough from the opposite end of the room. Immediately she sat bolt upright in her chair and glared at the intruder. She was more embarrassed than angry but he didn't need to know that.

"Mr Brink, have you not heard of knocking before?"

"I did knock!" Topher protested, twisting his hands awkwardly in front of him. "I knocked but you didn't answer so I thought I'd push the door open and..."

"And just barge in uninvited?"

Topher's cheeks flushed pink. "Sorry, ma'am."

"For God's sake, don't call me ma'am! Now tell me what the hell you want or go back to your precious computer."

Clearing his throat and forging onwards, he said: "Something funny has come up on the computer..."

"Funny?"

"Something 'glitch-y'" Topher said, knowing that Adelle would not appreciate a longwinded explanation about what was really happening with the computer. He hadn't been here all that long but he was learning quickly what Adelle liked and what made her quite mad. The more British she became, the more scared Topher was of her.

DeWitt sighed, an exhalation that a charging bull would have been proud of. Topher tried not to quake in his high top Converse sneakers, hoping that one day he would know how to act appropriately around her. At first she had been quite maternal and caring towards him mainly, he guessed, because she knew how much it irked Mr Dominic. Since then, with the Dollhouse taking on more clients and overcoming the first few hurdles that were bound to occur when running an operation as complex and morally ambiguous it was, Adelle had viewed Topher as less of a capable, annoyingly lovable employee and more as the infuriating child who disrupted the class. Topher was determined to prove her otherwise, one day she would come to trust him with more than just the Dollhouse's computer system, he was sure of it.

"What I mean to say is, I was running a diagnostic and I saw an anomaly." Topher explained, careful not to use too many terms than only a computer geek genius like himself would understand. Adelle was supremely intelligent, perhaps even more intelligent than he was, but computers were not her area of expertise.

"What sort of an anomaly?" Adelle asked, picking up the tumbler again and running the cool surface along her brow. It had been such a long day already that she couldn't even believe it was only just lunchtime.

"It's to do with Whiskey." Topher wrung his hands.

Adelle visibly blanched. God damn computers, she thought with a vengeance. Keeping a fairly blank expression on her face, she waited for Topher to continue.

"It must be wrong, and I should probably check with Dr Saunders, but the computer scan seems to indicate that Whiskey is pregnant." Topher's voice got steadily quieter as he delivered this sentence. He paused, misreading the glare on Adelle's face as anger towards him. "Of course, she could have been abducted by aliens on her last engagement, and implanted with..." Now Adelle really was glaring at him.

"Topher," She said, using his first name was a rarity. "Have you told anyone else about this?"

He shook his head earnestly. "No, I came straight here to tell you as soon as I found out ma'...I mean, Ms DeWitt."

"Good. This is to stay between us and Dr Saunders, who confirmed Whiskey's _condition_ to me earlier today. If I found out that anyone outside the three of us knows, I will know who to blame." She added darkly.

Topher mimed zipping his lips shut. "I won't say a word, but, what _are _we going to do about Whiskey?"

"We?" Adelle asked, a small smile shaping her lips even after the hellish morning she had experienced. Apparently, whether she wanted him to be or not, Topher was on her 'team'. His loyalty was touching, though of course she would never admit that, no matter whether she was drunk or had taken hallucinogens. Not that she would ever take drugs of any sort, vodka was usually more than adequate. "Well, firstly we are going to have to separate Whiskey and Alpha." She stood up from behind her desk and looked out over the rest of the Dollhouse, spotting the two Actives automatically.

Topher was frowning. "Damage is done, though. Keeping them apart now would be like locking the stable door after the horse has already bolted."

Adelle had to admit that he was right, but part of her wanted to punish Whiskey and Alpha for their actions, even though they had no idea of the ramifications of their behaviour. She watched as Alpha picked up a napkin, leaning across the table and wiping a small amount of salad dressing from Whiskey's chin. Whiskey smiled shyly, obviously thanking Alpha for the gesture. Watching them did something to Adelle, somewhere inside something stirred and she wondered if it was possible that she felt envious of the two of them. In this state the Actives were pure and untainted, as was their love. For reasons she didn't want to think too hard or long about, Adelle agreed with Topher.

"Are you going to make Whiskey have an abortion?"

Adelle turned back from the window to face Topher. This had been a question that had been on her mind from the very second that Dr Saunders had utter the word 'pregnant'. It would certainly clear up this mess and, if Dr Saunders carried out the procedure himself, no one would need to know but it didn't feel right. Young men and women with no hope came here and yes they signed their lives over the Dollhouse, but did that give them the right to take away Whiskey's God given right to mother a child? The ethics were far too complicated and Adelle longed for another glass of vodka.

"I don't know, Topher. I keep hoping that Dr Saunders is going to rush in here and say it's all a mistake but now that the computer has confirmed it..." She ran a hand through her hair, which was getting messier by the minute.

"It's real." Topher finished, trying to come up with a solution that would stop Adelle looking so confused and overwhelmed. She was so cool, calm, collected and so very British that her lack of control and decisiveness was beginning to freak him out a little. He cleared his throat before voicing the next thought that had just come to him. "Why don't you ask Whiskey and Alpha in here, tell them what's going on and ask them what they want to do about it?"

"Why don't you..." She began, angrily. It was a knee jerk reaction to being second guessed by men all of her professional life, but she knew Topher was trying to be helpful. "Sorry, yes, I'll think about it."

Topher placed his hands in his pockets, feeling awkward and like he had significantly overstayed his welcome. "That'll be all."

Topher nodded, and started on his way out of the office.

"Topher!" She called as he was opening the door. "Thank you."

He nodded again, shutting the office door behind him. Perhaps they were making progress. If she trusted him with something like this, that was definitely a good start.


	3. Part 3: Handling

**Parents**  
><strong>Part 3: Handling<strong>

_Thanks for the reviews. I hope you like this chapter. I'm hoping I got all of the canon about Alvarez and Blevins right. More to come soon! xxx_

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><p>Adelle spent a long while watching Whiskey and Alpha out of the office window and on the CCTV cameras linked up to her computer. The two Dolls spent the entire time together and they looked happy, Adelle did not doubt that for a second. What she was most worried about, aside for the ramifications she'd suffer from her bosses, was how prepared and capable the two of them were to be parents. Perhaps if Whiskey carried the baby to term, it could be put into adoptive custody until her contract with the Dollhouse came to an end. Oh, it was too complicated and she needed someone to confide it but the best option appeared to be a science nerd barely out of his teens. She knew that she needed to talk to Whiskey and Alpha's handlers but it was not a task she was looking forward to.<p>

Putting away the decanter of vodka and the tumbler, she brewed a pot of tea and put phone calls through to the two handler's, requesting they come to her office as soon as humanly possible.

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><p>Exchanging a glance made up of mutual contempt and wariness, Alvarez and Blevins stepped into DeWitt's office. They found her standing and accepted the seats she gestured to without a word. Alvarez was trying to wrack her brain to remember why Adelle would want to speak to her so urgently whereas Blevins was sure whatever was going on was down to Sophie and her troublesome Active. He didn't believe all the hype about Whiskey being the favourite 'number one' doll and wished she would stay as far away from Alpha as possible. It seemed like whoever they were imprinted with and whatever mission they were sent on, they had a frustrating ability of always finding each other.<p>

"I'm sure you're both wondering what this is about," Adelle began, keeping her tone as frosty as possible to hide that fact she was anxious about this conversation. She was determined not to let these two, who frankly could have done a better job, see any sign of weakness on her part. "I had an illuminating conversation with Dr Saunders earlier today and that conversation concerns both of your Actives."

Blevins focused his glare on Alvarez again. "What has Whiskey done this time?" He asked, saying the Active's name as if it was something very unpleasant; to him she was.

"What Whiskey has 'done' is to get pregnant." Alvarez gasped and even Blevins looked surprised rather than scathing for a moment or two. "She is pregnant with Alpha's child."

"I knew it, I Goddamn knew that good for nothing bitch would ruin Alpha." Blevins was almost spitting with rage as he jumped to his feet. "I told you!" I was pointing his finger accusingly as Alvarez, not quite daring to be quite so insubordinate as to accuse Adelle in a similar manner.

"Mr Blevins, sit down." Adelle almost bellowed. "Whiskey cannot be blamed for this. Laying the blame is pointless anyhow and won't help us to clear up this mess."

"She must have an abortion, it's the only answer Ms DeWitt, surely you can see that. I won't have Alpha's reputation tarnished because of this."

Alvarez had said very little since Adelle had dropped the pregnancy bombshell, mainly because she hadn't had a chance. "I don't think this decision has very much to do with you, does it?" She asked Blevins coldly.

"In answer to your question, no, I will not be making Whiskey have an abortion. Yes, it may seem like the logical solution and one that will cause the least fall out, but when I took this job I wanted to ensure that basic human rights were protected. It is not our place to decide whether Whiskey should be allowed to keep her baby or not, regardless of whether she signed a contract with us."

Neither Blevins or Alvarez spoke but she could see that the former was fuming and the latter had a glazed expression, still taken by surprise at the news. She wasn't the only one, Adelle thought bitterly.

"I called the pair of you in here because I'm going to need your help when I talk to Whiskey and Alpha about this situation. They trust with their lives, so they will trust you with this but we must present a united front even though, ultimately, the decisions are up to them."

"And if they decide they want to keep the baby, what do you propose?" Blevins demanded, looking as though smoke might pour from his ears at any moment.

"Whiskey will be pulled off all assignments once her third trimester is over and will take a 'maternity leave' from being an Active but will be programmed with the necessary skills to take care of a baby. For Alpha things will remain much as they are now, but we will have to look into bringing in a new Active. As you well know Whiskey is the most popular Active we have an finding someone who will satisfy our clients' needs in the same way that she does won't be an easy challenge."

She looked at Blevins and Alvarez again, who had both been quite quiet since Blevins previous outburst. Now that it appeared that Alpha's routine would see very little disruption he didn't not seem quite so rattled by the whole fiasco.

"I suppose there's nothing left to do but tell Whiskey and Alpha."


	4. Part 4: Whiskey's Choice

**Parents**  
><strong>Chapter 4: Whiskey's Choice<strong>

_**Thanks for the reviews/alerts for this story so far. It means a lot! This is the penultimate part of the story, I hope you enjoy it.**_

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><p>Blevins and Alvarez left DeWitt's office under somewhat of a cloud. Blevins, having recovered from the shock, was muttering darkly about how he had always known that Whiskey had meant trouble. Alvarez, for her part, was silent as she went off to retrieve her Active. Too many thoughts and feelings were fighting for dominance in her mind that Sophie had no idea what he reaction actually was. Or, for that matter, how Whiskey would respond to the news. She hoped that Adelle would break it to her, and Alpha, gently.<p>

Alone in her office again, Adelle fixed her hair, brewed herself a pot of tea and settled back into her chair. Her hand hovered over the phone as her mind tried to settle a battle. In the end she bit the metaphorical bullet and dialled through to Topher. He answered on the first ring, as if he had been waiting to be summoned.

"Topher, I'm about to talk to Whiskey and Alpha about...you know what." Walls, and Mr Dominic, had ears after all. Keeping this between as few people as possible was paramount, at least for the time being. "It might be best if you were here too, we might need you." Adelle still had enough of her pride left not to tell him that it was mainly because 'she' wanted him to be there.

"I'll be right up." Topher replied, and arrived at DeWitt's office before Blevins and Alvarez had returned with their Actives. He stood awkwardly in the room, twisting his fingers together, then letting his hands drop by his sides. Normally Adelle would have been frustrated with his fidgeting but today she seemed to have too many other things on her mind. Topher was grateful that this time he was not the one to blame, Adelle's wrath was not something he enjoyed facing.

"Do take a seat." Adelle said, looking over at him and his awkward stance. Her voice was half impatience, half gratitude that he was there. Strange that, in this place, a nerdy boy was the closest thing she had to a friend.

Topher sat down, but still felt uncomfortable. He wanted this to be over with, though surely not as badly as Adelle did. He hated to think of the repercussions she could face from her superiors when the news of Whiskey's pregnancy spread. It wasn't exactly her fault of course, but the powers that be at the Rossum corporation were always fond of finding someone to use as their scapegoat.

Finally, after what seemed like hours to Adelle and Topher, the two handlers and their Actives arrived in the office. Blevins was still looking disgruntled whereas Alvarez, Whiskey and Alpha all had similar expressions of bafflement mixed with a hint of anxiety.

"Come and take a seat," Adelle said to Alpha and Whiskey in her more friendly tone. They obediently sat down in the two chairs in front of DeWitt's desk. Alvarez and Blevins were left standing and, if they didn't like it, Adelle thought it was just too damn bad. As she proceeded to talk to the two Actives, she all but excluded them from the conversation. In her opinion they had already failed to protect their charges and once this conversation was over, she would see that they were instrumental in picking up the pieces. Topher, for his part, was glad that the two handlers were the outlet for DeWitt's frustrations rather than him.

"Now, I've got something very important to talk to you about. I'm going to tell you what it is and then you can decide between what you want to do about it. Whatever your decision is, we can help you."

Whiskey exchanged a glance with Alpha, who in turn reached for her hand and squeezed it. Once again, Adelle was surprised at the tenderness between the two Actives and felt that same strange twist of envy at the simple, honest love they seemed to have for each other.

"Whiskey, Dr Saunders called me to his office today to talk about you."

"Dr Saunders is nice." Whiskey replied immediately. "Dr Saunders gives me lollipops after my examinations." Alpha nodded seriously in agreement.

"Yes, yes" Adelle said, with a hint of impatience. Topher tried to keep the smile from his face. "Dr Saunders told me something about you, something big. Whiskey, you're going to have a baby."

The Active opened her eyes and mouth wide, looking purely innocent in her shock. Topher noticed that Alpha increased the pressure on Whiskey's hand and that Blevins simply harrumphed in disapproval.

"A baby?" She repeated, then looked at Alpha. "We're having a baby?" She asked.

Adelle nodded. "Yes, that's right. We need the two of you to make a decision about what you want to do; whether you want to keep the baby, whether you want to have an abortion or whether you want to have the baby but give it up for adoption."

Whiskey was still looking at Alpha, their eyes locked on each other's. Adelle glared at Blevins, guessing that he was about to speak before he had even opened his mouth. Alvarez approached Whiskey, kneeling by her side but the Active was too engrossed in the silent communication she was having with Alpha.

"Whiskey, what do you think?" Sophie prompted after a few minutes had passed. Topher was finding it hard to sit still on his chair, he found himself becoming more and more invested in the Dollhouse having its first baby.

Adelle stood up now too, hands on her hips as she waited. Apart from the situation not occurring in the first place she wasn't sure what she wanted the outcome to be. A pregnant Active meant new possibilities. Some of the kinkier clients were often disappointed that getting an Active pregnant was out of the question as part of their often twisted fantasies. Also, if Topher managed to design an imprint that promoted motherly and care giving tendencies, motherhood could be completely revolutionised. Perhaps, if Whiskey did decide to keep the baby, she could present these ideas to Rossum in the hopes that it might save her job. Dr Saunders though, Adelle decided, he would have to go.

Whiskey looked up at Adelle with her big, innocent eyes and her hand still wrapped in Alpha's grip.

"We want to keep our baby."


End file.
